malvern I’ve stolen your chilli recipe, thanks

quite keen on the banana curry idea, [toddles off to look it up]

My pleasure I hope it hits the spot. Forgot to list a tsp of marmite in the recipe . Just remembered the banana and chickpea curry was veggie not vegan. I suppose you could use soya yoghurt or something similar. We stopped buying the main brand of soya yoghurt when discovered it’s owned by a huge industrial dairy business. Coconut cream is now cream-additive of choice, (or Oatly cream) but not sure about the taste of coconut w/banana – need to try it out first. Someone said the author was now vegan, so maybe worth someone asking her to do a reboot!

Frys nuggets etc are now available in Morrisons

Funny you should say that, we found some Frys schnitzels at the weekend, never seen them before but spotted in the no-meat section because marked as half price. Turned out to be IMO a better alternative to breaded chicken burgers/grills. Better still it fitted perfectly in a pitta, combined with mixed salad, chilli and (Plamil) mayo with some chopped garlic. Fast-ish food 🙂

I’ve been vegetarian for 30 years and for many years of that vegan. I went back to being vegetarian when a change of job meant travelling all over the world and eating out or in hotels all the time. It’s not that I’d then choose to eat dairy but I stopped worrying about what might have had milk or cream or eggs added to it. I’ve never liked cooked cheese so I that’s always been off the menu even when I ate meat. I’ve stopped the travelling now and I expect around 99% of my calories come from vegan sources but I’m not worried about the last 1%. It makes family life easier to compromise and for me it’s a choice not a religion or doctrine. I enjoyed the cheese and biscuits at Christmas but it’s likely the next time I have any will be next Christmas.
I’d say to anyone don’t label yourself, If I want to eat a stake tomorrow I will. It’s unlikely, not once in 30 years have I been remotely tempted but it’s just to make the point that this is a day by day choice.

We’ve been low-meat since New Year and, because we cook our own food anyway, it’s been easy and tasty. Most of the food we’ve eaten was vegan, or could very easily have been made vegan.

We got lots of ideas from Anna Jones’ new book A Modern Way to Cook, which is all veggie/vegan.

We’ve been away this weekend so have fallen off the wagon, and I feel a bit crappy as a result. Looking forward to my lentil salad for lunch.

My OH and I are going to try to drastically reduce the amount of meat we eat to improve our overall health. I’ve been looking at the starch solution by Dr McDougall and although there’s a lot I’m sceptical of will use it as a guideline. We are planning to eat vegan/veggie 5 days per week, fish once per week, meat/poultry once per week. We will still have eggs as I get free eggs from free range highly spoiled pet chickens from a colleague.

I find lunches hardest when working in an office. Evening meals are fine, I am happy cooking, but I never manage to make the effort to cook or prepare meals to take in for lunch and the easy option of sandwiches can get a bit boring. I also find I like flavourful food, adding lots of garlic or spices, which can be a bit too smelly for shared offices!

Been Vegan for 3 years now. Probably best to try and ease your way into it. You’ll learn a lot as you go on….

I always manage to eat something in most places, even if I go out.

Don’t let anyone convince you that you can’t be fit and healthy as a vegan. I’ve raced a number of full CX seasons as a vegan, and I’m faster than I used to be

Good luck!

MrsSalmon is vegan. As mentioned above it’s not that big a deal in your own kitchen but can lead to some very tedious times if you want to go out to eat (especially somewhere nice for a special occasion). You can also pretty much forget picking something up at train stations etc. So you need to always be a few steps ahead if you’re going to be away from home and accept that your options for eating out socially are going to be pretty limited. Obvious potential for problems abroad as well.

Sometimes it’s also a bit frustrating if you get home late and can’t just have, say, a tin of soup or something. Everything has to be prepared, obviously better organisation helps here though.

As for cost I don’t think it necessarily needs to be much more expensive, but veganism with a preference for organic produce can start to add up a bit. If you rely heavily on things like vegan sausages etc. that could be a bit pricey too.

Nutritionally I can’t say I’ve noticed I’m lacking in anything since effectively becoming 95% vegan! We don’t take any supplements or anything.

Depending on how strict you are, you might be surprised by how many products have milk in too. You need to check the ingredients on pretty much everything!

I work with a strict vegan (she takes about 8 pills everyday and has an iron deficiency) so maybe she’s crap at it 🙂 although she has been doing it for years

Honey is on the banned list too, I don’t understand that one but apparently its because bees are “slaves” …….. 🙄

Just out of interest, because someone posted this up as a suggestion for my ideal tea (minus the spinach, natch) , is this the most un-vegan thing that has ever existed? I think it’d take some beating! 😀

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-xSinZKXoc[/video]

Boxing Day Park Run was fun in Brighton, quite a few Vegan Runners in their vests turned up and cheerily left the turkey eaters for dead. 🙂

I go back to my view that it isn’t and shouldn’t be a religion or doctrine though. If today you eat an all vegan diet you’ve made I think a useful contribution to animal welfare, to the environment and if you take a modicum of care your health.
I’ve only ever used the label vegan as a matter of convenience, sometimes it just means I know I’ll get something to eat I like, there are a lot of things with dairy in I’m not too keen on but if it’s vegan I’m pretty sure I’ll like it.

I find lunches hardest when working in an office. Evening meals are fine, I am happy cooking, but I never manage to make the effort to cook or prepare meals to take in for lunch and the easy option of sandwiches can get a bit boring. I also find I like flavourful food, adding lots of garlic or spices, which can be a bit too smelly for shared offices!

I was always terrible at remembering to make/bring sandwiches, but have got much better since making salad boxes instead of sandwiches. As a base I have chickpeas or lentils with olive oil and balsamic vinegar plus black pepper and either dried herbs or chillies. On top I have some mix of sliced up red peppers, mangetout, sugarsnap peas, and baby sweetcorn, plus some salad leaves. There’s a revolving and varied mix of extras that go on top; today it was avocado, sauerkraut and harissa paste.

I go back to my view that it isn’t and shouldn’t be a religion or doctrine though.
…
I’ve only ever used the label vegan as a matter of convenience,

This. Labels are only of benefit for other people (and the single biggest challenge you’ll face in going vegan / veggie isn’t getting nutrients or working out what’s safe, it’s putting up with everyone else whining about it).

Eat what you want, when you want. Simples.

I’ve been vegan for about 4 years now after being long term veggie beforehand.

I eat lovely varied tasy food and I don’t miss anything. Be prepared for stupid comments from ‘normal’ people even if you are just quietly doing your own thing, anyone being different is threatening for people.

Also steer clear of vegan facebook groups, mostly pious vegan policing idiots.

It is a bit of a pain eating out some places if you can’t plan ahead but that’s not a reason to follow something you believe in.

Anyone got a good website for veggie meals that are quick and easy to make? And what do you do for lunches at work? Cheese sandwiches only go so far!

Not vegan but considering going mostly veggie for a change. Seems healthier more than anything.

I work with a strict vegan (she takes about 8 pills everyday and has an iron deficiency) so maybe she’s crap at it although she has been doing it for years

I take a b12 supplement erractically when I remember, had a medical last week and all my levels were normal and iron on the high side of normal.

It’s quite possible to be a junk food vegan though!

Honey is on the banned list too, I don’t understand that one but apparently its because bees are “slaves”

I’d stick to hydroponic greenhouse vegetables. Double slavery getting them to pollinate all our veg, and then stealing all the food they collected. Virtually extinct now anyway, so looks like your friend has a head start on most of the rest of us.
😉